Article of jewelry



Nev. 5, 1940. E FOR T 2,220,442

ARTICLE OF JEWELRY Filed June 29, 1940 INVENTOR E0 mo/vo Fons?- ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 5, 1940 Edmond Foret, New York, N. Y.', assignor to (lartier, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 29, 1940. Serial No. 343,059

, '7 Claims.

This invention is an article of jewelry and the object of the invention is to produce flower forms of great beauty. The present invention provides flower form jewelry which appears to have life and does not possess that stiff, conventional appearance so commonly found in jewelry of this kind.

I have been able to obtain surprising results in the fabrication of jewelry by making the petals of a flower in the form of a concave mirror and by mounting the flower center upon a fine spring, so that the slightest movement or vibration will cause the center to quiver. The flower center is preferably in the form of a precious stone or gem held within a mounting which is supported by the spring in such a way that the mounting and stone occupy the normal position of the flower center. Because of the resilient support of the stone and its mounting, they are never still but are constantly quivering or trembling.

When such a flower is viewed from its face, the mirror and flower center are not only seen directly, but the stone and its mounting are also seen by reflection in the mirror, with all parts of the stone and its mounting continually in motion.

There results a shimmering effect which imparts radiant life to the article quite unlike anything which I have heretofore seen. v

The flower may be provided with a stem and,

80 if so, it may also be made resilient, but is by preference so constituted that it may be bent to partake of such shape as may be dictated by the taste of the user.

Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, will be apparent from the herein after detailed description and claims, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one practical embodiment of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure l is a front elevation of an article of jewelry embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a central vertical section through Figure 1 showing the stone and its mounting in elevation.

Figure 3 is a rear View of Figure 2 with cover cap removed.

The petal portion of the flower shown in the accompanying drawing is in the form of a concave mirror I. This may be made of any suitable material, but it is preferably made of precious or base metals, either solid or plated, with 55 the front face thereof polished to form the mirror. Pure gold has been found highly satisfactory for-this purpose.

The mirror I is shown as having edges 2, simulating the'contour of the'pet'als of the flower. The tips ofthe petals may be bent back if desired, but this is optional. The important feature is that the petal portion of the flower constitutes a concave reflector. This reflector may be of unitary spherical form and it is so shown in the accompanying drawing. If desired, however, the 10 individual petal portions of the reflector may be individual, spherical reflectors as shown in Patent No. 2,199,222, issued to Jules Glaenzer on April 30, 1940. Thatportion of the article which constitutes 5 the center of the flower is in the form of a stone 3 which may be either an imitation or a precious gem. An emerald is shown in the drawing and the coloring thereof is indicated conventionally in Figure 1. Reference, hereinafter, to the stone 20 will be understood to cover'either a natural or artificial gem.

The stone-is secured within amounting shown as embodying a plurality of arms 4 attached to a rearwardlyextending tubular shanki. Eight of 25 these arms are illustrated in the drawing and they areso constituted as to grip the periphery of the stone firmly and hold it rigid with respect to this mounting. This shank extends through a perforation 6 at the center of the reflector I and 30,

projects into a housing 1, rigid with the back of the reflector and normally closed by a removable cap 8.

Within the housing 1' is positioned a coil spring 9. One end of this spring is firmly anchored at 35 [0 to the housing I, while the other end H extends into and is firmly secured to the tubular shank 5 of the mounting 4. The spring 9 is somewhat similar to the hair spring of a watch.

It has a number of convolutions preferably of 40 spiral form and is made suiiiciently sturdy to support the weight of the mounting 4 and the stone 3,'but s'uficiently light to support these parts in a veryunstable condition, so that the slightest movement or vibration will cause the mounting 5 and stone to quiver or tremble.

In order to do this, the spring must be made quite frail and there may be a possibility of breakage of the spring if the jewelry is roughly handled. Consequently, to insure against loss of 50 the stone and mounting, in the event ofbreakage of the spring, I secure to the back of the reflector within the housing a post l2 and solder to the shank 5 of-the mounting a loop l3 adapted to embrace the post. In the event of breakage of the spring, the loop I 3 will safely hold these parts fore the reflector and the color of which is in place, so that they will not become inadvertadapted to be reflected thereby.

ently lost. Having thus fully described the invention,

Attached to the back of the reflector is a stem M which has inherent resiliency, but is of such character that it may be bent according to the taste of the user and to this stem may be secured one or more leaves l5, as shown in Figure 1, the leaves being generally made from sheet metal.

When an article of jewelry is constituted as described, with the petal portion I of the flower in the form of a mirror, very unusual optical effects result. A person looking at the flower from the front will see, not only the mounting and stone directly, but he will also see the reflection 3a of the stone and the reflection 4a of its mounting in the surface of. the reflector. When the stone is an emerald, the greater portion of the surface of the reflector will take on the green color 3a of the stone, while the remainder of the reflector will exhibit the color of natural gold -(omitted from Figure 1 for clearness) if the re- 1 flector is made of this material and is of unitary spherical form. The mounting will show natural gold color indicated at 4a in Figure 1.

,If the several petals are individual spherical reflectors with their 'own individual axes, as

shown in Patent No. 2,199,222, hereinbefore mentioned, then the entire surface of the petals will be colored according to the stone, while the individualarms of the mounting will appear in their natural coloring. Figure 1 shows the concave unitary spherical form of reflector and consequently only the central portion of the reflector is colored green leaving the tips of the petals and the mounting in natural color.

It is characteristic, however, of the present invention that neither the stone nor the mounting nor the images as seen in the reflector are still. On the contrary they constantly tremble or quiver and the whole surface of the reflector seems to shimmer and shine with a lustrous, tremulous light, due to the scattering of the rays 'of light reflected from the surface of the part I. It is impossible to describe in words the beauty of the optical elfect thus produced. The whole flower seems alive in either natural or artificial light. 1

All this is due primarily to the resilient support of the stone and its mounting, in cooperative relation to the reflective surface and is brought about by making this resilient support of such character that it is unstable under the slightest bodily movement of the article. When worn upon a person the parts are never still and consequently the shimmer or glimmer is continuous. In practice, any appropriate means may be provided for securing the article to the person. Any suitable clasp, pin or catch may be provided for this purpose and this may be mounted directly upon the back of the reflector or on the housing or on the stem without departing from the invention.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in its preferred practical form, but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claims.

The term stone, as used in the appended claims, is to be understood to mean either a .natural or an artificial gem made from glass or any other material, or a metallic member or other body which it is desired to resiliently support bewhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An article of jewelry comprising a concave reflector, a stone positioned substantially centrally of, the reflector, a mounting for said stone, and a resilient connection between the mounting and the reflector to support the stone and its mounting tremulously with respect to the reflector.

2. An article of jewelry comprising a concave reflector, a stone positioned substantially centrally of the reflector, a mounting for said stone, and a spring, one end of which is secured to the mounting with its other end anchored rigidly with respect to the reflector to support the stone and its mounting tremulously with respect to the reflector.

3. An article of jewelrycomprising a concave reflector, a stone positioned substantially centrally of the reflector, a mounting for said stone, and a coiled spring, one end of which is secured to the mounting with its other end anchored rigidly with respect to the reflector to support the stone and its mounting tremulously with respect to the reflector.

4. An article of jewelry comprising a concave reflector, a stone positioned substantially centrally of the reflector, a mounting for said stone,

and a coiled, spiral spring, one end of which is secured to the mounting with its other end anchored rigidly with respect to the reflector to support the stone and its mounting tremulously with respect to the reflector.

5. An article of jewelry comprising a concave reflector, a stone positioned substantially centrally of the reflector, a mounting for said stone, a' resilient connection between the mounting and the reflector to support the stone and its mounting tremulously with respect to the reflector, and a safety tie between the mounting and the reflector to preclude loss of the mounting and stone in the event of breakage of said resilient connection.

6. An article of jewelry comprising a concave reflector provided at its center with an opening and having a housing back of said opening, a spring mounted in the housing with one end of the spring juxtaposed with the opening, and a mounting secured to the latter end of said spring and projecting through the opening in the reflector and supporting a stone forwardly of said opening, whereby the mounting and stone are tremulously supported by said spring with respect to the reflector.

'7. An article of jewelry comprising a concave reflector provided at its center with an opening and having a housing back of said opening, a spring mounted in the housing with one end of the spring juxtaposed with the opening, a mounting secured to the latter end of said spring and projecting through the opening in the reflector and supporting a stone forwardly of said opening, whereby the mounting and stone are tremulously supported by said spring with respect to the reflector, a post within the housing, and a safety loop secured to the mounting within the housing and loosely embracing said post to preclude loss of the mounting and stone in the event of breakage of the spring.

EDMOND FORET. 

